A trip to Whistler, B.C., to ski or snowboard Whistler Blackcomb’s legendary powder is a must for any mountain lover, but the village has a not-entirely-undeserved reputation for being one of the most expensive destinations for winter fun in Canada. To wit: A hotel room close to restaurants and gondolas will run you about $600 a night on a weekend during peak season. And while that’s worth it if you’re the type of traveller who loves the amenities of a full-service hotel, if all you’re looking for is a quiet, comfortable place to crash at the end of a day on the slopes, the Pangea Pod Hotel might be more your style.

Slated to open later this year in the heart of the Whistler Village Stroll, Pangea is the brainchild of Russell and Jelena Kling. Before settling in Vancouver, the couple (who hail from Cape Town, South Africa, and Belgrade, Serbia, respectively) spent three years travelling the globe. They found that when it came to accommodations, there seemed to be no happy medium between youth hostels and high-priced hotels, particularly in city centres.

“If you’re 18 and drunk, there’s always something for you,” Russell says. “But if you’re 28 and you want privacy and quiet when you go to bed — but you don’t want to spend $800 a night or take a bus into town every day — those people get locked out of the market.”

The Klings’ solution? Pods. Loosely inspired by Tokyo’s famous capsule hotels, each pod measures just under five square metres and contains a bed, a mirror, a reading lamp, a fan for air circulation and white noise, standard and USB outlets for charging electronics, shelves, clothing hangers and a lockable cabinet for valuables. That’s it.

“Capsule hotels arose from business travellers who perhaps missed the last train and just needed a place to sleep that was private, safe and affordable,” Russell explains. “We tried to take that ethos of giving people only what they want: a beautiful bed, in a nice property, in a great location.”